CHF shows harder side in collection

By Michele SanFilippo -- Home Textiles Today, 3/15/2004 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK —

A year after launching its first collection of window hardware, CHF is pushing ahead aggressively in hard goods with decorative shelves, shades, privacy panels and expanded window hardware selections.

"We have used our window business to lead the company into different areas with retailers," said Frank Foley, president and CEO. "For us, it's not about being a mill, but about developing incremental core businesses with retail partners."

Peri Hardware will offer five types of decorative shelves for the first time, with window sconces in gold and crystal, filigree, leather, and leaf or lotus blossom designs. The collection will also offer a new rod size (1.25 inch) in 10 styles with designer touches.

Roman shades will bow under the Peri brand in six or seven designs. The new product category will be offered in 100 sizes and 14 different colors. Under the more mass-oriented CHF hardware line, café rods with decorative finials and swing rods will be introduced.

The company is also introducing Glasscapes, a specially treated vinyl panel for windows and glass doors that provides privacy without blocking sunlight. The decorative panels are fully removable since there is no glue or adhesive and will retail for $14.99 for a 36-by-36-inch panel. Four styles are currently available: Glass Block, Stained Glass, Frosted Stripe and Vineyard Floral. Packaging will feature a ring at the top so the product can be held up to the light for the full effect.

Back on the softer side, CHF is creating two new bedding programs.

Street Smart Teen, a bedding program inspired by activewear, uses a specially treated polyester "to give it that slippery, noisy, polytech feeling," said Joan Karron, executive vice president. The line is designed with a retro twist, employing tie dying, airbrushing, a light board effect and Art Nouveau. Sheeting for the ensembles is 180 percale, 50/50 cotton/poly.

"We tried with Reflections (another CHF youth program) to offer a higher thread sheet, but when push came to shove, nobody wanted it," Karron said. "They wanted the easy care."

In adult bedding, CHF has added Luxury Style, a program that features more value-added embellishments and fancier fabrics than the two-year-old Loft Style collection at a retail price point of $149.99 for a queen comforter set. The line, which targets twenty-somethings, will feature 250-count cotton blend sheeting and eight patterns for market.

"We recognize consumers are getting educated and expecting more in bedding," Karron said.